Sydney becomes first city globally to collect marine litter 24/7

A Seabin and the City of Sydney’s Environmental Performance Innovation grants program has resulted in Sydney becoming the first city in the world to collect and monitor marine waste 24/7.

This year, Seabin Chief Executive and co-founder Pete Ceglinski and City of Sydney Councillor HY William Chan launched the world’s first Seabin 6.0, which has the capability to filter 55,000 litres per hour – resulting in greater collection and greater positive impact for Sydney Harbour.

Councillor Chan said the new Seabin in Sydney Harbour would help continue the City’s crucial work towards a clean and swimmable harbour and noted “as part of our community-led Sustainable Sydney 2030-2050 vision, we’re committed to transforming Sydney into a water-sensitive city and unlocking the harbour’s potential by opening up our waterways and the foreshore to the public.

“The environmental vision and extraordinary innovation of Seabin will only make this goal more attainable as we work towards creating a sustainable and resilient Sydney, including a clean and swimmable harbour for all.”

Seabin launched its Smart City Pilot in 2020 and aims to be active in 100 cities by 2050. From June 2020 to January 2022, the program has filtered over 6.5 billion litres of water and collected 31.3 tonnes of marine debris, extracting plastics, microplastics, fuel, oil and other contaminants from Sydney Harbour.

Ceglinski advised “or goal is to have 100 cities working toward cleaner oceans by 2050. I believe that 100 cities can change the world.

“We can focus on behavioural change, policymaking and prevention. We can better understand the health of our waterways, and in turn, the health of our oceans, and even measure the success of solutions.”

The City of Sydney is supporting Seabin’s Smart City Program by sponsoring units across Sydney. The Seabins are installed at Sea Life Sydney Aquarium wharf, Australian National Maritime Museum wharf, Pyrmont Bay and Jones Bay Wharf.

In addition to the placement of the units, Seabin will also be launching an Ocean Health Data platform, which will enable the City of Sydney, local citizen scientists and the community to login and access almost real-time data for each Seabin unit.

Councillor Chan added “The City of Sydney is proud to sponsor Seabin’s ground-breaking and crucial work by tackling plastic pollution through data collection, cleanup, community engagement and education.”

The work of Seabin will go towards supporting the long-term principles of the City of Sydney’s draft vision and community strategic plan, Sustainable Sydney 2030-2050: Continuing the Vision.

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Image: Seabin Credit HY William Chan and Pete Ceglinski